The Art of Second Chances
by JojiMC
Summary: Heather does not take well to people getting the best of her. When Amy humiliates her in the cafeteria, she seeks a way to find revenge. Time travel just might come in handy...


**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Happy New Year, folks! Guess who's publishing a third fic in two weeks? I've been writing one-shots since November, so yeah. xD This is dedicated to Mr. CyborgPineappleIsland II for a fic exchange I've been doing with him and Applauze, and this draws my part to a close. Hopefully you'll enjoy this, Daniel, and sorry about any plot holes in advance. I'm not experienced in fantasy.

* * *

Hey, you.

Listen to me closely. I'm about to tell you something that I haven't told anyone else. Know why? Because there's no one else sane who would believe me. Even you might not believe me.

Life sucks sometimes. Everyone knows that. And most people would probably go back in time and change the sucky parts if they could. But here's my advice: don't. Just don't.

I was having a pretty ordinary day when a load of crappy events came my way. As usual, classes were boring, teachers were lame, and friends were following me around like sheep. School was a breeding ground for deceit, and I made sure to stay on top. There were some things, however, that were out of my control.

For example, bitchy cheerleaders.

Amy. Bitchy Cheerleader Number One. She had her own clique of followers I played nice with, but we both knew she wanted my captain position on the team. And that was the last thing I wanted to give to her.

Being the petty brat that she is, she bothered me constantly like my brother Damien. Her goal was to ruin my life, but she succeeded more in being a nuisance. That is, until she initiated the load of crappy events.

She confronted me in the school cafeteria. She wore her cheerleader uniform, one of the try-hards who wore her uniform whenever there was a meet. Her groupies stood on either side of her. I sat in the middle of the cafeteria with my own group. However, Lindsay and Katie slid away from me at the first sight of Amy coming toward our table.

 _Cowards_ , I thought, turning to face her. Time to put on my bored face. "Yes? What do you want?"

"Nice greeting," she said. "What makes you think I want anything from you?"

"Oh, maybe the fact that you're standing in front of me right now."

She gave me a leer that would've been intimidating had I not known I was better than her. "Maybe you should watch your attitude around me. That is, if you don't want anything bad to happen to you."

That's when I noticed her holding something behind her back. Thoughts ran through my mind. Was it water? Juice? "What's that behind your back?" I said. "Not that I'm concerned. You won't use it."

I had touched a nerve. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

I blinked up at her. "I don't? Then how come I'm not covered in liquid right now?"

She clenched her teeth- I was really getting to her now. "Don't, push me."

I looked at my nails. "It wouldn't really matter if I pushed you off a cliff. You don't have the guts to stand up against me."

Wrong thing to say.

A liquid splashed onto my face. It blurred my vision and dripped down my chin, slipping into my bra. I wasn't covered in water. I was covered in oil.

"You bitch!" I screamed. My words punctured the silence that had swallowed the lunchroom. Oil went into my mouth, and I gagged.

"I told you not to mess with me," Amy said in a low voice. "Now you paid the price." I watched her blurry figure walk away with her followers behind her.

Lindsay and Katie nervously patted my face with napkins. "Stop that." They retreated, and I stood up. Wiping at my eyes, I stumbled through the silence until I reached the doors. I barged through them and ran for the nearest bathroom.

 _How dare Amy treat me like a girl to be messed with_ , my mind raged over and over. She was lucky I was above strangling her. But she wasn't gonna get away with this. Not if I could help it.

To add to the lovely situation, I already knew water would do nothing against oil. So, I had to use soap instead. I slathered it all over my shirt, which didn't help that much, and rinsed it under the sink. Even then, I could still see the stains.

"Ugh," I groaned, wringing out my shirt. I stared at myself in the mirror. An idea came to me, and I spread the oil back on my hair and put it into a ponytail. Amy couldn't best me entirely.

I went to the paper towel dispenser and blotted my face. The oil caused all of my makeup to come off. _There should really be oil-proof makeup_ , I thought, looking at myself in the mirror. Under eye bags. I wished I could go back in time and change all of this.

I needed to go back home. I needed new clothes, and I certainly wasn't going to wear my cheerleading outfit like Amy. I left the bathroom and walked quickly down the hallway with my head down, hoping no one would come along and recognize me. Thankfully, no one came. I pushed open the entrance doors and made my way into the courtyard.

My Audi was in the parking lot. I unlocked it automatically and sat inside. Time to regain some of my dignity.

My mind wasn't on driving as I stepped on it. Maybe it should've been, but that's what happens when emotions cloud your judgment. I sped onto the road, believing no one would be in my way. How wrong I was.

"What the-" I jerked the wheel to the right and narrowly avoided a speeding car. However, my turn had put a tree right in front of me. " _Crap!_ " I had no time to brake and shielded my head. All I heard was a wrenching sound before I slammed my head into the wheel and fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

I woke up to silence and sunlight. I felt like I had just woken up from a nap. Slowly, I sat up and blinked. My eyes adjusted to the light as I looked around. The picture quickly became clear where I was.

I was in my bedroom.

"What am I _doing_ here?" I murmured incredulously. Was I in a dream? Was I in my own made-up world? I didn't think Heaven looked like my bedroom.

I looked at my alarm clock. 4 P.M. School was out by now. I stared at a picture of me on my wall, wondering if it would disappear soon. Tentatively, I grabbed a stuffed rabbit at my side. It was a gift I had received from Alejandro, my boyfriend. I had pretended I didn't like it at first, but it had become a comfort.

I had been in a car accident. The thought jarred me. How could I be here now? If I stepped on the floor, maybe it would fall away at my feet. When I tried it, however, I touched solid carpet.

 _This is incredibly weird_ , I thought. Maybe I had been out for a while and brought to a hospital. Maybe I hadn't had a serious injury after all. I went to my vanity and touched my forehead. Smooth and clear. It should've at least been bruised.

I jolted. I still had my makeup on. Was this a joke? I looked more closely. Did Damien put it on? _Surely he wouldn't have done this good of a job, though..._

I couldn't dwell on it. I'd go insane otherwise. Maybe I already was. But my mind kept going back to when my makeup had come off in the bathroom.

A ripple bent the air in front of my eyes. I blinked. It got bigger and bigger until it was the size of me. A picture formed in it like moving water. I immediately recognized myself in it, inside the bathroom.

"Have I... made this?" I stretched a finger out. I touched the picture, creating a ripple that went outward. It felt like nothing.

Clearly, I had gone out of my mind. Although I didn't feel like I had, people who are insane don't feel like they are, anyway. This was just a reality that I had created in my mind. My family probably wasn't here, in that case.

Time to explore the past.

I walked in a little bit at a time, putting my head in last. I closed my eyes as I moved through, feeling a gust of wind around me. When I opened them, I was inside the bathroom.

I thought I would've been like Scrooge, who was a ghost watching himself. There was no second me around. "Hello?" I said, looking around.

I realized my skin was wet and looked down, seeing myself covered in soap and water. "What the hell?" I tugged at my shirt and examined the oil stains. I looked up and saw a makeup-less self in the mirror. Apparently, I had replaced my past self. Or maybe I was my past self now. But how would I still remember what had happened?

I sat against the wall and tried to regather myself. I was just coming to terms with my situation when a knock came at the door. Who could have the worst timing?

 _I must've imagined it_ , I thought, sitting back again. But it came once more. I looked up and heard a familiar voice. "Heather?"

"Alejandro?" I said. I had conjured him in my memory?

He opened the door. "Yes." He was wearing his usual varsity jacket over a button-down shirt, looking down at me with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I said, trying to cover up my embarrassment. He lowered his eyebrows and helped me up with one hand, supporting me with the other. I stood up. "I don't need your help."

"Of course you don't." I couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic. My mind made a good Alejandro, apparently. "I was surprised by what occurred in the lunchroom. I'm sorry I couldn't arrive sooner."

"What were you doing?" I asked.

He opened the door and bent down to reach behind it. "I was getting-" He pulled in a duffel bag. _My_ duffel bag. "-this."

"How did you _get_ that?" I said, reaching for it.

He shrugged as he handed it to me. "Lockers are easy to break into."

"I'm not surprised you did that." I reached into my bag and pulled out my cheerleading outfit. I sighed. It was better than risking another car crash.

That's when I realized, Alejandro hadn't done what I was thinking he would do. He had broken into my locker and fetched my duffel bag himself. _Does that mean...?_

"How did you know this was in my locker?" I said. "And how did you know I would need it, for that matter?"

"I know you well, _mi amor_." He kissed me on the cheek. "And I know that oil does not wash out easily."

I rolled my eyes. "You would know."

"I would," he said with an infuriating smile. "Why don't you get changed?"

"Turn around."

"Of course." He turned around, and I stared at him to make sure he wasn't looking before I changed into my cheerleading outfit.

"You can turn back now," I said.

He swiveled around and looked me over. A smile grew on him that I wanted to slap off his face. "I must say, that outfit suits you."

"Shut up." I bent down and pulled out my makeup bag, looking in the mirror and applying concealer under my eyes.

"You don't need makeup, Heather. I do understand that women have their practices, however, as men have theirs."

I turned around. "Like how you spend half an hour doing your hair?"

He frowned. "I only spend fifteen minutes."

"Thirteen minutes too many." I capped my concealer and proceeded to fix my foundation. Why couldn't my makeup stay the same from before I entered the portal?

"Well-managed hair takes time to achieve," Alejandro said. "Surely you yourself would understand that."

"I'm the one wearing oil in her hair right now," I snapped. "Don't you talk to me about hair."

He pressed his lips together. I relined my eyes and applied my mascara, glossing my lips pink as the finishing touch. I smacked them together before turning to Alejandro. "How do I look?"

"Ravishing as always," he said.

I lifted my eyes. "Even in my imagination, you're a suck-up."

"I'm sorry, did you say 'imagination'?"

"Yup." I put my arms outward and turned in a circle. "All of this is a part of a reality I've made for myself after driving into a tree, including you."

He kept his flustered look. "Why, I've never seen this side of you before..." His expression turned into one of annoying admiration. "Frankly, I think you're confused. Endearingly confused."

"I am not!" I shouted. "Just minutes ago, I was on the road in a car accident!"

Alejandro put his hands on my shoulders and started to massage them. I immediately opened my mouth to protest, but a sleepy feeling spread over me. "Have you been getting an adequate amount of sleep lately, Heather? Surely this is one of those dreams one has."

"I..." I sunk over, giving in to exhaustion. "I don't know. I don't even know what I'm doing here."

"You've had a bad day, _mi amor_." He put a kiss on my forehead, and I closed my eyes. "I'm glad I was here to help you."

The bell rung, and he stepped toward the door. "If you feel like you need to go home later, come to me in my classroom. I'll drive you there."

"I thought you didn't want to miss school," I said.

"It's worth it." He stepped out and held the door open. I grabbed my duffel bag and went out, joining the crowd. Somehow, I had a warm feeling inside of me.

I turned and watched him walk the opposite way. He disappeared into the background. "Thank you," I said.

* * *

It was about half an hour into the period when I decided to fast-forward. Clearly, school wasn't going to be any more interesting than usual, and I wasn't looking forward to all of the looks my way by inferiors. I went forward in intervals so that I wouldn't miss much, but I had to go back sometimes to get what a teacher was saying. At one point, I even went from the end of a class to the beginning to hear the homework assignment again.

I wasn't going to miss cheer practice, though. I had plans for Amy.

I marched into the gymnasium, ready to face my cheerleaders. They looked at me and fell into hushed silence, spreading outward. I put on a look of steel and trained my eyes on them. "Afternoon, girls."

Amy stepped out from them, wearing a poker face. "Afternoon, Heather."

I narrowed my eyes at her, and our coach came through the doors. Amy and I immediately put on our sunniest smiles for her. "Hey, guys!" she said. "Why don't you go change?"

We went to the locker room, and I put my bag in my locker. I watched from the corner of my eye as Amy opened her locker and did the same thing. I stashed the combination in my memory.

Outside, we did our warm-ups before practicing. I led everyone in a dance we were preparing for the pep rally, one of our school's lame traditions. We could do whatever we wanted, at least. Coach Ally didn't shy away from sexy routines, either. I had practiced our routine to perfection, and she let me take charge of whipping the girls into shape.

I went over to Amy as the music played, watching her every move. She glanced at me and grit her teeth. It didn't matter how well she danced in front of me.

"Stop!" I shouted. Samey peeled away from the group and turned off the music. "Amy, you're not in sync with everyone else. From the top!"

Amy gave me the darkest of looks. I simply smiled. The routine started up again, and I restarted it four more times due to her "messing up".

"Amy's kick wasn't high enough."

"Amy didn't turn fast enough."

"Amy's supposed to do a round-off first, not a flip."

The girls stepped into a line for the sixth time, and I sighed. "Amy, do you even see the gap you're making?"

Amy stomped her foot down. "NO, I DON'T SEE THE GAP I'M MAKING BECAUSE IT'S NOT THERE!"

Samey rushed to stop the music as Coach Ally looked up from her magazine. "Something wrong, Amy?"

Amy stepped toward her. "Yes, there is something wrong! Heather is accusing me of mistakes I haven't made!"

I crossed my arms. "I know a mistake when I see one. Maybe you should just practice more."

"Maybe you shouldn't be team captain!" she shouted.

"Enough." Coach Ally stood up from her chair. "I'll observe you guys myself. Heather, take a break for a while."

"Sure thing, Coach. I'll be going to the bathroom." I walked away from Amy and went back inside the school, wearing a smirk the whole time. I was ready for Phase Two.

I entered the locker room. It reeked of cheap perfume from the freshmen (or, as I like to call them, fresh trash). I walked to Amy's locker and put in the combination: 14-36-8. Pulling it open, I swiped her bag and opened it up. Her phone lay at the bottom, and I laid it on the bench before putting her bag back and opening my own locker. I retrieved a bottle of paint from my bag.

I had stolen it from the art room. Phase Two was where the fun was really at. I was going to destroy her life, but I was going to be discreet about it. It was time to repay the favor two-fold. I squirted paint everywhere inside her bag, then closed it up and did the outside as well. Then, I reached for her phone.

I turned it on and froze. There was a password space on the screen. _Crap_ , I thought. How did I not consider the possibility?

The door opened. I whirled around and yelped, seeing who I thought was Amy. The girl held out her hands. "Wait, it's just me, Sammy!"

I didn't relax, even though she was telling the truth. She looked around the room. "What's... going on here?" She looked at the phone in my hand. "Is that Amy's phone?"

"If you tell her, I swear I'll-" I stopped. This was Amy's sister. She was easily manipulated. "You're right. I'm getting revenge on her for what she did to me in the cafeteria. Don't you want revenge on her for everything she's done to you, too?"

She widened her eyes. "I wouldn't do anything to betray her."

"Why? Because you're afraid of her? Honestly, I am, too."

Her eyes went even wider. "You are?"

"Yeah. After what she did, I want to make sure I never have to be afraid of her again. We have to show her that we can't be messed with, y'know?"

Samey shuffled her feet and looked down. "I can't stand up to her, though."

"But you don't have to." She looked up with parted lips. "You just have to tell me her password. I won't tell a living soul that you did, Sammy. I promise."

She tapped her fingers together. "I trust anyone more than my sister."

She held her hand out to me, and I smiled. I gave her Amy's phone; she hesitated to touch the screen for a moment, then quickly typed the password and handed it back to me. "Look at the texts she's sent to Lightning." Before I could respond, she was already out the door.

 _That was one of the first places I was gonna look_ , I thought. Maybe Samey had a bit of a side people weren't aware of. I clicked on Amy's text messages and started to scroll through them when the door swung open with a _**BAM!**_.

I jumped. Amy had a thunderous look on her face. My heart pounded as she marched forward and stopped in front of me. "What, are you doing with my phone?"

"Your sister gave it to me."

"Nice try, Heather." She snatched her phone out of my hands. "Wait until I tell our coach what you were doing."

"She would never believe you over me," I snapped.

"Really?" She put a hand on her hip. "Coach said that I was great in the routine just now. She said I could even become captain if you ever needed to be replaced. She's starting to lose trust in you, Heather. Why _have_ you been criticizing me when I'm just as good as you?"

"You're not," I said between my teeth. "You will _never_ replace me."

"We'll see about that." She turned on her heel and walked out the door.

I thought fast. The locker room had its own bathroom. I could pretend I was washing my hands. I could come from behind Amy and pretend I just came out of the bathroom. Coach couldn't really believe her over me, could she?

I wasn't supposed to get caught in the first place. Now, my plan was ruined. _But I know her password now_ , a thought said. _I could go back in time and do it again by myself._

It was the safest option available. I was sure my plan wouldn't fail again, now that I knew what was coming. I thought back to my entrance into the locker room, and a portal swirled into the air on cue. I walked in.

I entered the locker room. I stood for a moment before realizing my hand was still on the door, letting it close. There was no time to waste. I unlocked Amy's locker and quickly fished out her phone, then relocked the locker to the way it was. The phone was more important than the paint. This time, I went out toward the hallway.

Although Amy wasn't gonna catch me going out, I wanted to put as much distance between us as possible. I hurried down the hallway and typed in her password before I forgot it, searching through her text messages with Lightning. They as a couple made me sick, but their conversations were surely gold mines for embarrassment.

There was a ton of text talk that made me gag, but it wasn't that different from the usual couple talk. I kept scrolling and made a jock move out of my way. Just before I reached the doors, I came across a series of photos that made me stop dead.

I dropped the phone. I had looked at more than something personal. I would never be able to look at Amy or Lightning the same again.

I picked the phone up before anyone could call me weird and rushed out the door, soaking in the fresh air outside. I needed to collect myself. This was the entrance I came out of to meet Alejandro after his soccer practice. I would always sit against the wall and watch the boys on the soccer field. That was what I did that day, too.

Until I heard a voice.

"Heather!" I turned and saw Alejandro running up to me _. Crap crap crap_ , I thought, fumbling to put Amy's phone in my pocket. Except I didn't have one.

I put on as normal an expression as I could. "What are you doing here?" I said.

"I was just in the bathroom." He crouched on one knee beside me, and I tensed. "I think the more compelling question is why _you_ are here, however."

"I got out of practice early," I said, trying to play it cool. He didn't buy it.

"What are you doing with someone else's phone?" he said, scrunching his eyebrows.

My mind shot off fireworks. "Oh, it was lent to me."

Alejandro fixed his eyes on me, and I knew I was caught. "I know when you're lying to me. There should be no secrets between us."

He swiped the phone from my hands before I could react and turned on the screen. His eyes went round, and I tried to snatch it back. He held it out of my reach. "Heather, what the hell is _this?_ "

"I didn't know they were there!" I shouted.

Alejandro started pressing buttons randomly. "Whose phone is this? And why were you looking through their texts?"

I put my face in my hand. "It's Amy's."

His face went blank. I watched the sudden realization dawn on it, and his expression became the darkness I was afraid of. "I'm disappointed in you, _mi amor_. I understand you want revenge, but this, this is violation of someone's privacy."

"Like you have a right to talk," I snapped. "You broke into my locker today."

"That was for a noble cause," he said, anger running under his voice. "This is _petty_ , Heather. I thought you were wiser than this. We're not in a reality show here. To return an offense with something like this is foolish and childish."

"Then maybe I'm not the kind of person you think I am," I said.

He lowered his eyelids and looked at me with eyes that made a hole in my stomach. "Perhaps you are not." He stood up slowly and gave me one last look, one that said goodbye. "I'll see you around, Heather."

"Are you... breaking up with me?"

He turned his face away. He walked back toward the field, and I watched with the hole in my stomach gaping ever-wider. Footsteps came in my direction, and I turned to see my cheerleading team coming toward me with Amy and Coach Ally in front. I was about to get caught again. I did the only thing I could think of- run.

* * *

I was back inside the bathroom. Amy's phone was in the toilet after I had thrown it in a fit of rage, and I had locked myself in a bathroom stall. "This wasn't supposed to happen," I whispered to myself over and over, gripping my head.

 _I need to warp back_ , my mind kept saying. Amy and the others were going to link her missing phone to me. This was an even stickier situation than last time. And that didn't even include Alejandro.

Alejandro.

I didn't understand why I cared so much.

He and I had been using each other. We both knew that. Our initial game of cat and mouse had attracted the attention of the whole school. But there were just too many memories.

 _A white rose in his hand and his green eyes looking at me._

 _Shared smiles over teachers hurting themselves._

 _An awkward dinner with his family._

 _A visit to the prettiest garden I had ever seen._

 _Spanish restaurants and Alejandro criticizing their "inauthenticity"._

 _The first time he told me he loved me._

 _The Valentine's Day dance, where he taught me how to dance._

 _A neatly wrapped cupcake on my birthday._

 _The kiss on my forehead on a bad day._

I needed to go back.

If I went back to before Amy dumped oil on me, I wouldn't need to get revenge. Why hadn't I thought of that sooner?

 _Because you wanted to get revenge_.

 _Whatever_. I thought back to the unfortunate incident, and a portal opened up. I stepped toward it.

And hit it like a wall.

I stumbled back. My head reeled, and I held my nose. I stretched a finger toward the portal and touched solid surface.

"No," I whispered. It wasn't possible. I thought of every other memory I could think of that took place before I took Amy's phone, and tried to step through. But there was no going back.

"Let me out of here!" I screamed. I banged on the portal and sent ripples through it. Staring at the blurry image, I sobbed and dragged my fists down, leaning on it. "Please... I don't want to be in this dimension... I should've never changed the past."

Sleepiness drew itself over me like a blanket. I closed my eyes and gave myself up to the blackness.

* * *

Sirens rang in my ears. I opened my eyes to blue sky.

Voices came toward me like a wave. I turned in my seat and saw a crowd of people coming toward me. I was already surrounded by police cars and an ambulance.

I noticed a woman talking into a walkie talkie beside my car. The principal. She looked at me and widened her eyes. "She's awake." She put down her walkie talkie. "You will be okay, miss. The ambulance is almost here."

I blinked repeatedly at her, unsure of what to say. I saw someone running toward me and straightened. It was Alejandro.

My muscles tensed. _He's not the same as before_ , I told myself. I relaxed. His boots clomped on the pavement rapidly, his figure becoming clearer. He gripped the passenger door and heaved. "Heather!"

"Alejandro." I had a pulsing ache in my head, but it was a comfort after all that had happened.

"You'll be okay, _mi amor_ ," he said, staring at me intensely. "I promise you'll be alright."

I couldn't suppress the chuckle that came out of me. "You can't predict the future."

"Sure I can," he said firmly. "You're strong. You can survive anything."

I hesitated. "... Can I... survive a kiss on the forehead?"

His expression unfolded. He sat next to me and caressed the side of my face, staring into my eyes. He gave me the softest touch on my forehead.

I knew I was going to be okay.


End file.
